Thailand and China to set up anti-scam centre
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Thailand and China to set up anti-scam centre

China to establish separate operation in Mae Sot, opposite notorious crime hub of Myawaddy 

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Buildings in the Shwe Kokko “scam city” in Myawaddy Township are seen from the Thai side of the Moei River in Tak province.(Photo: Angshu2193 via Wikimedia Commons)
Buildings in the Shwe Kokko “scam city” in Myawaddy Township are seen from the Thai side of the Moei River in Tak province.(Photo: Angshu2193 via Wikimedia Commons)

Thailand and China will work together to combat fast-growing networks of illegal call centres along the Thai border with Myanmar and Cambodia, often staffed by trafficked workers, that aim to defraud people in phone and online scams.

Thai police said on Friday that a coordination centre would be set up at the national police headquarters in Bangkok, while Chinese authorities plan another operation in Mae Sot district of Tak, across from Myawaddy in Myanmar, a major hub for the scam call centres.

“This centre (in Bangkok) will work together (with China) to investigate and combat call centre gangs based in Myawaddy, Myanmar, and along the Cambodian border, which involve many Chinese and Thai nationals,” the Royal Thai Police said in a statement.

The coordination centre is expected to start operations in February, said the statement, which came after a meeting of Thai and Chinese security officials in Bangkok.

Southeast Asia — especially border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia — has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centres.

Public pressure has been building in Thailand for authorities to take action against the scam compounds, where workers are lured in from around the world, and are often treated brutally.

China, too, has become increasingly concerned, especially following the abduction and cross-border rescue from Myanmar of Chinese actor Wang Xing.

On Tuesday, Chinese state media reported that officials from China, Myanmar and Thailand had reached consensus on eradicating telecom fraud centres in Myanmar during a meeting in the Chinese city of Kunming.

The flurry of recent activity also included a meeting this week between a Thai military delegation and Soe Win, the Myanmar junta’s second-in-command, in Nay Pyi Taw to discuss a crackdown on human trafficking and online scams, Myanmar state media reported.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said this week that junta authorities had sent back 55,000 foreign nationals, including about 53,000 Chinese, from scam compounds to their home countries between October 2023 and January 2025.

The report also suggested that scam operations received support from Myanmar’s neighbouring countries, a claim that Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai rejected on Thursday.

“This issue is not just about Thailand,” said Mr Phumtham. “It is something where Myanmar and China also have to help.”

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